Care must be taken
by Laurenke1
Summary: Harry must take care of his sick lover Severus Snape. Anybody who knows the potions master knows it is difficult, will Harry prevail? One Shot. AU warning and slash warning.


**Disclaimer****: I don't own anything of Harry Potter. **

**Note: So somebody asked for a story where Severus is ill but will he accept comfort from his husband Harry?**

**Warning: AU warning and minor slash warning. **

**Title: Care must be taken. **

**Author: Laurenke1. **

Harry Potter, Defence against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was awaken abruptly by the taller man that clenched him tightly. Harry frowned and opened his eyes, searching for his glasses as he hastily put them on.

The dark haired, hook nosed, normally pale skinned man was shivering uncontrollably and yet Severus Snape, current potions master was still keeping a tight grip upon Harry's torso. The normally pale skin was greyish and clammy with sweat.

Stroking back the long dark hair, Harry struggled free. His husband was still shivering and it seemed that Severus had kicked the blankets away as Harry tugged them up again, covering the older man.

"Severus?" He gently shook his lover, frowning when the sharp black eyes opened. They locked with his own and Severus actually groaned as he turned a shade of green before Severus bolted from the bed and into the bathroom, throwing the door shut behind him.

Harry frowned even more before he got up as well and picked up his wand, waving it and conjuring a glass of water which he held in his hand. Soon the bathroom door opened and Severus walked back to the bed, accepting the glass of water with a word of thanks.

"Uhm, Severus, perhaps somebody else can take over your class in the morning, I mean; you have been throwing up all evening…"

"Nobody needs to take over my class, Potter! I am perfectly capable of standing in front of my classroom! I am not some weak and helpless child." The normally venomous voice sounded weak and raspy. Harry did not even flinch because he knew when he was called Potter, well Severus tried to intimidate him then but in the nearly 5 years that he had known and been with Severus, he knew that it did not work anymore.

The older wizard broke off with a low moan and clenched his head in his hand. "Do you have a headache?" Harry softly asked as he took the glass of water from his bond mate and then shifted behind the sick wizard, hands silently beginning to work on the tense muscles along the neck.

The man relaxed every so softly, groaning and moaning softly. "I will go back to sleep now…."

"You will first take the potion that settles your stomach…" Harry turned to he could look the older man in the eye as Severus glared at him.

"Harry, you know as well as I do that I cannot teach if I take that potion, it will make me drowsy and it will not cure my headache…" The older wizard realized he had said too much as he dropped his head in his hands again.

Silently Harry summoned the red liquid vial and he wordlessly pressed it into Severus' hand, guiding it to the thin lips as he answered sternly. "That is all the more reason for you to drink the potion. Then you can stay in bed and sleep and perhaps even read that new book that I got you for Christmas." _And allow me to take care of you for once. _ The thought was left unsaid and the green eyes burned as they met the dark ones.

"I took a vow for sickness and in health, Severus. So you are ill, the world is not going to fall apart if your classes will be cancelled for one day. The world will not stop spinning because Severus Potter Snape will be in bed because he is ill!" Harry would never be as tall as Severus was and even at 22 years of age, he still felt like a child sometimes next to the wizard who was 30 years his senior but he glared down at the wizard sitting on the bed.

"Oh for heavens sake, brat, very well hand me the potion then and _I will allow _you to take care of me." The next moment one strong hand grasped the collar of his shirt and he was roughly dragged forward. His mouth was crushed underneath the others as Severus broke the kiss only to bolt to the bathroom again.

Steadying himself Harry frowned and picked up the vial, holding it until the older wizard returned. He silently handed Severus the vial and one last glare and the potions master finally drowned it, grimacing at the taste. "Remember when I had the flu?" Harry softly asked as he guided Severus back to bed.

The black eyes were closed as Severus allowed Harry to tuck him in. "How could I forget? I am sure the stench is still not out of the sheets. I may have to burn them." Fever clouded eyes opened and Harry smiled when they locked with his own.

Severus did not look so intimidating at all now. He looked sleepy; the harsh lines in his face have smoothed out some due to the peace that now reigned after the war. Voldemort was dead, had been dead for 5 years now and nearly everything had been rebuild.

Harry Potter was still the hero of the wizarding world and would always be so until his dying day but the Daily Prophet had finally left him alone after the marriage when Severus had staked his claim and blasted all the stupid notions about an invalid marriage into small bits with one heated kiss. Every once in a while they made an appearance at the ministry of magic yearly anniversary of the Fall of He Who Must Not Be Named and their picture was the headline in the next Daily Prophet. Severus still kissed Harry each and every time, making use of his surely patented dead glare to ensure that nobody approached Harry even to think of asking for a dance.

Sometimes somebody who was no doubt stupid or blind said that Severus was not good enough for Harry. One shouting match and a surprised Severus being pulled into a kiss by the Boy Who Lived and of course the camera's clicking, Harry had sufficiently silenced all other protests and when the students of Hogwarts said the obvious affection the potions master held for the DADA professor even when it could not really be seen, except in touches or glances, it also silenced everybody else.

Harry's pillow was tugged away from him and the strong arms that shook every so gently turned him and he was pulled into a strong embrace, the embrace he had learned to sleep with for 5 years now. The arms he could not sleep without and he felt Severus relax, coughs wracking his frame as the older wizard finally fell asleep.

The alarm clock went off and Harry opened bleary eyes as he raised his wand to blast the thing. It merely fell down the bed side table and continued to hoot there. It was a special alarm clock given to them by Hermione and as Harry glared at it, he wondered if the killing curse would work on it.

Groaning at the unholy hour of six thirty on a Thursday morning, he swung his legs over the bed and searching for his robe. He soon found it near the bed and turned back to look at the bed. Severus appeared to be out cold. Normally the dark haired wizard slept light and sometimes even put the alarm clock in the closet so they would not hear it.

Harry tugged the blankets back up around Severus and then went to get bathed and dressed. He soon took quick steps towards the great hall for breakfast, slipping into the empty seat next to the headmistress Minerva McGonagall. A few early students called out a greeting and Harry waved.

"Morning, Harry, where is Severus? Normally you enter the hall together. Was there an emergency with one of his Slytherins?" The elderly woman was not sitting in the great golden chair the older headmaster Albus Dumbledore had so often sat in but she was sitting in her usual chair, not even sitting higher then any of her fellow teachers like she did not felt like she was above them as her rank was.

Putting eggs and bacon on his place, Harry took a quick bite before he took a sip of his morning tea and then he turned back to the headmistress as he said. "Well, that was actually what I wanted to talk about. The Slytherins are fine but Severus is ill. I think he has the flu so I forced him to take a potion that settles the stomach but he won't be able to attend classes today. Much to his annoyance of course…"

"How will you ensure that Severus stays in your rooms?" The elderly looking stern woman looking down at the grinning young man.

"I have warded our rooms. If he leaves I will be notified and I will be able to run down and catch him, hopefully. Or else I will be forced to play dirty and make sure that he will not receive certain things from me. But he may be a bit grumpy then…" Harry's voice dropped even lower.

"Harry, you barely have any classes today. Why don't you take the day off and join Severus? I am sure he would like that."

"Or you might need to find yourself a new DADA professor again." Harry softly murmured, eating the rest of his remaining breakfast.

"He would not dare to hex you while I am in the castle, Harry!" The headmistress said soothingly.

"No, I am sure he would not. I am more worried about my sleeping arrangements for the next years or so. You could not possibly transfigure the couch into something that resembles the bed." He was rewarded by a sound of laughter by the headmistress and Harry smiled as well.

"Go back and take the day off. I know how trying to past few weeks have been for you with exams for the students and all. Together with the visit of Ronald Weasley, Hermione Weasley and their children."

With the words of the headmistress at heart professor Potter retraced his steps back towards the dungeon. He knocked on the door before he entered, glancing around the rooms for any sign of Severus. The bedroom door was still closed and Harry frowned as he walked to the door and opened it.

Severus was still curled up in the bed, now lying sideways so he was lying on Harry's side of the bed. Harry smiled and he moved closer to the bed. The dark eyes opened and Harry froze when the wand was pointed at his chest. Old habits died hard and Harry held up his hands, trying not to draw his own wand.

Severus relaxed and laid back down, tucking his wand underneath the pillow as the older wizard blinked up in the strong light and softly asked. "What time is it?"

"Barely a quarter past eight in the morning. Minerva has given me the day off. You have not slept long. How are you feeling?" Harry sat down on the bed, keeping his voice soft.

"Tired. If you do not mind that I will send you out of the room to go and make yourself useful so I can get some more sleep." Harry grew alarmed as Severus' eyes drifted shut again. They had been pain filled and hazy.

Silently he slipped out of the rooms and back into the hallways. Severus was never one to admit defeat or say he was weary. Harry traced his steps up to the healing wing. He pushed open the doors and soon spotted the small mediwitch when she came bursting over.

A large smile appeared at her face the moment he saw him and called out. "Well good morning, Professor Potter, what can I do for you on this fine morning?"

She had already taken out her wand to run a diagnostic charm on him and Harry held up his hand as he softly said. "It is not for me. It is for Severus. He has been ill for most of the night and he just said he was tired which is very unusual. Normally I have to bind him to the bed to ensure that he will take his rest."

"I will come down with you. I am sure hat he has taken a potion but he could just be more ill then we thought." She quickly appeared by his side with some bottles in her hand and soon Harry had taken her downstairs, allowing her to wait in the living room as he went to wake up Severus.

Cautiously he approached the bed, wand held out in case the older wizard would hex him straight through the room. But he was not silent enough when the soft voice said. "Potter, have I ever given you the impression that I like being examined by a mediwitch."

"No, Severus, but you have never been so ill before. Please, just for me…." Harry never once pleaded with Severus but when the older wizard suddenly reached forward and pulled Harry closer, nuzzling with him he answered.

"For your peace of mind then, my brat." Severus pulled him closer, grinning at him with the usual Slytherin grin that made Harry wish to jump up the bed and bury his face in the older wizard's silky creamy skin.

But those thoughts were better left for another time as Madam Pomfrey came in. She bustled about, ignoring the glares Severus was sending her way. Harry could not move as Severus pretended that he could not move so he was forced to lie with his head in Harry's lap.

In the amusing dark eyes Harry could see the well hidden pain. His husband was still ill and soon Madam Pomfrey looked at Harry with a mixture of pity on her face that the messy haired professor did not like at all. Severus laughed softly. "You have caught a very bad case of the flu, Severus. I order you to stay in bed for the remainder of the day and allow Harry to take care of you. I will give you a potion that will get you back on your feet in no time. If I catch as much as a whiff that you are out of bed, I will bind you to the bed with ropes!" Her voice dropped down lower and her glare rivalled that of Severus himself.

"Pity, binding myself to the bed with silk ropes might be quite enjoyable." Severus' voice was soft and it only reached Harry's ears who blushed a bright red. "I might just get out of bed just for that…." The black eyes that rose to meet Harry's own had the younger male stuttering an Severus laughed even harder, breaking the stare finally to close his eyes.

The two men did not see the smiling mediwitch leaving the vial with the potion as she walked out of the room. Inside Severus allowed Harry to feed him some dry toast and some tea, the Boy Who Lived finally feeling at peace. Harry tucked Severus in, only to have the secretly amused wizard pull the blankets right out again.

"Severus stop that! Go and be ill and go to sleep." Harry finally snapped after three times of the same thing happening.

"I am bored!" Came the reply in the dark velvet voice that never ceased to send shivers down Harry's spine.

Harry sighed and looked back at the older man. Surely when he had been ill, he had not been this annoying. But he could not remember much, only Severus' hands on him, stroking his hair, his chest and stomach, making him easily forget that he was ill. Severus was smiling slightly, dark hair messy and the eyes glossy with the fever but Severus seemed resigned in his fate.

"Come here and stop me from being bored." Severus patted the empty spot next to him and as Harry sighed again, he hopped onto the bed, kicking off his shoes. Soon he was arranged that he was lying next to Severus, the older wizard's head pillowed on his stomach.

"What do I do now?"

"We do nothing, Potter, except wait until this illness passes. If I am suffering to stay in bed and be bored, so shall you." Sighing again Harry hid his amusement but as he knew that Severus would soon be well again he could resign himself to spending a day in the bed with his potions master for he could truly not imagine a more perfect day.

The end.

**That was the end of it. Please review. **


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